How to Grow Cosmos Flowers

Cosmos flowers grow native in Mexico, so they prefer extreme heat, poor soil, arid conditions and very good drainage. Start cosmos plants every spring from the seed with helpful tips from a sustainable gardener in this free video on growing flowers. View Video Transcript

About this Author

Yolanda Vanveen

Video Transcript

Hi this is Yolanda Vanveen and next we're going to talk about one of my favorite flowers, cosmos. So now to figure out how to grow cosmos flowers you need to find out where they are native. Now cosmos are native to Mexico so they like dry, arid, hot hot conditions so you wouldn't want to plant them in wet clay and lots of compost and really wet soggy conditions. They do much better in extreme heat and poor soil and lots and lots of water but dry them out in between completely because if they stay wet in any way they'll rot right out even in the middle of Summer. Now cosmos are an annual so that means you have to start them every year. You don't just plant them one year then they'll come back the next year. You have got to start them in the Spring each year because they freeze out in the Winter if you live in a cold climate. If you live in a warm climate a lot of times they will come back from year to year just from the plant itself so when you are starting the seeds. So as you notice they're just small seeds and you want to plant those about a half an inch to a quarter inch deep and you can put them right into the soil or you can put them right into a container or you can start them in seed trays first which is one of the easier ways to do it. And I like to put just a couple per seed tray and then you want to cover that up just barely like a quarter inch, half inch and whether you start them in a seed tray or you start them in the ground. So whether you start them right into the soil or you start them in a seed tray when you water them make sure not to use a heavy stream try to get a mister or put some cloth on top so that it just drips down and then it's not a heavy stream and that the seeds just wash away and with cosmos you want to put them in full sun. They have got to be in raised beds with good drainage they don't want to sit in muck at all and put them in some place where they are going to get as hot as they possibly can get and they will come up and they will bloom in the Summer through the Fall and a lot of times as they look ratty too I will trim them down just a little bit as the blooms bloom out. A lot of times they'll keep shooting up even more blooms. Now you can collect the seeds in the Fall once they are done blooming and then turn around and save them all Winter and start them again in the Spring so you don't have to go out and buy new seeds. Now cosmos are a great addition to your flower garden.